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Former Miss Hall’s School teacher at center of grooming allegations is charged with rape
Several former students say Matthew Rutledge groomed and sexually abused them while serving as their teacher at the Western Massachusetts prep school.
A former teacher at Miss Hall’s School in Western Massachusetts was indicted on three counts of rape Tuesday, nearly two years after past students came forward with allegations of grooming and sexual abuse.
Matthew Rutledge is accused of sexually assaulting teenage pupils while serving as a teacher at the all-girls school in Pittsfield, according to the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office. He is scheduled for arraignment April 22.
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The indictment came after two of Rutledge’s former students, Melissa Fares and Hilary Simon, testified before a grand jury. Both women have allowed prosecutors to name them publicly.
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“It felt like a shift from being dismissed to being taken seriously,” Fares said of the indictment. “I thought about the version of me who first came forward, and how hard she had to push to get here.”
She told Boston.com via email that she wept after leaving the grand jury room, feeling relieved and devastated at the same time.
“Coming forward is not a single moment,” Fares said. “It’s something you keep doing, over and over. But it’s worth it every time. It really is.”
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Added Simon: “What kept coming back to me was: someone believed us. A grand jury heard what happened and said this was criminal conduct. That matters, not just for Melissa and me, but for every survivor who’s been told what happened to them wasn’t serious enough or wasn’t provable.”
A pattern of alleged abuse
It was not immediately clear whether Rutledge had a criminal defense attorney to speak on his behalf; lawyers representing him in a separate civil lawsuit Fares filed against him and Miss Hall’s declined to comment.
Tuesday’s charges mark an about-face for the DA’s office, which previously said it could not prosecute Rutledge given the age of his accusers during the alleged abuse.
“Massachusetts law defines the age of consent as 16,” District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said in 2024. “While the alleged behavior is profoundly troubling, it is not illegal.”
But the investigation remained open, Shugrue said Tuesday. As a team of special prosecutors and Massachusetts State Police troopers continued digging into the allegations against Rutledge, the Miss Hall’s board tapped Aleta Law to conduct an independent investigation into reports of sexual misconduct aimed at students.
The findings were alarming: The 2025 report linked Rutledge to five firsthand accounts of sexual misconduct involving students or recent graduates between the 1990s and 2010, with allegations of grooming, sexual advances, and “forcible oral and vaginal intercourse,” Aleta Law found. According to the report, “numerous” alumnae also shared their accounts of Rutledge’s purported favoritism and boundary crossing.
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Rutledge taught at the prep school from 1991 until his resignation in 2024, and the report states that current and former students and staff described him as a “god” or “king” on campus, with a “larger than life” personality.
In a statement, Miss Hall’s said it stands “with the Survivors whose courage and determination played an indispensable role in this outcome, and we are grateful they will finally have the opportunity to seek justice in the criminal case against Matt Rutledge.”
The school also pledged its continued cooperation with police and prosecutors.
‘They have waited far too long for justice’
Between its own investigation and the Aleta Law report, the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office said it ultimately determined Rutledge had broken state law. The exact allegations that led to his rape charges remain unclear.
“It took a long time to get to Tuesday’s indictment,” Shugrue acknowledged, praising prosecutors and investigators who worked to bring charges.
“Most of all, I would like to recognize and commend Melissa Fares and Hilary Simon for their bravery and continued cooperation throughout this long, arduous process,” he continued. “They have waited far too long for justice and, while I recognize our office took time to develop a path forward, I hope it is evident that I remained committed to holding the Defendant accountable for his crimes.”
Kristin Knuuttila, an attorney representing the two women, told Boston.com they are “obviously thrilled” the DA’s office decided to charge Rutledge, a man she said took advantage of not only the age gap between himself and his students, but the power differential. A pending bill on Beacon Hill would make it illegal for educators to pressure students into sexual activity through abuse or misconduct, closing a purported loophole in the state’s age-of-consent law.
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“Authority figure exceptions aren’t a fringe issue,” Simon told Boston.com via email. “This is a gap that predators have exploited for decades, in schools, in coaching relationships, in therapeutic settings. The law as written gives predators the ability to claim consent as a defense where there wasn’t any. When someone holds that kind of authority over you, consent simply doesn’t exist. It is exploitation.”
In its statement, Miss Hall’s recognized the role its alumnae have played in advocating for changes to state law.
“We commend the Miss Hall’s Survivors who have been working tirelessly alongside alums, community members, and lawmakers to shine a spotlight on the deficiencies in Massachusetts laws related to consent,” the school said. “Miss Hall’s School supports these efforts to advocate for new legislation that will close loopholes in how sexual assault is investigated and prosecuted.”
Although delayed, Tuesday’s indictment still represents justice, Simon said.
“It took years of survivors speaking up, going on the record, doing advocacy work, and testifying at the State House to get here,” she pointed out. “Three counts of rape. Thirty-three years on the faculty. This did not happen in a vacuum, and Rutledge is not the only one. The institution protected itself for decades while survivors and witnesses were expected to stay quiet.”
In fact, Simon said she said she long believed the criminal justice system wasn’t a “realistic” path to accountability.
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“I want other survivors to know that it can shift,” she added. “Melissa and I had every doubt you can imagine before we came forward: whether anyone would believe us, whether it was too late, whether it was worth putting ourselves through it again. We did it anyway. And it mattered.”
The Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office said its investigation into Rutledge remains active, and anyone with information is encouraged to contact detectives at 413-449-5055 or [email protected].
Asked what message she feels the charges send to sexual assault survivors, Fares described a hopeful path forward for others who have been in her shoes.
“You’ve already survived the hardest part. Coming forward is grueling — but it can also set you free in ways you don’t expect, after carrying pain and shame that were never yours to begin with,” she explained. “There are ways out of it. You are seen, you are loved, and you are not alone. Not anymore. These indictments are a signal that the truth can hold weight, even after years of silence.
“To perpetrators like Matt, these charges say: here’s your shame back, and that what was hidden can still come to the surface and be answered for,” Fares continued. “They say you no longer have power over me. It’s your turn to feel the weight of it.”
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